Thermal and acoustical insulating shield

ABSTRACT

A flexible, adhesively attachable, self-sealing, thermal and acoustical insulating shield has a needled, flexible, fibrous batt having an insulating layer of insulating fibers disposed between opposite binding layers of binding fibers. Binding fibers of each binding layer are needledly disposed through the insulating layer and an opposite binding layer to provide tufts of binding fibers protruding from the opposite binding layer so a to form a tufted upper surface and a tufted lower surface of the batt. A flexible adhesive is disposed and adhered substantially over the upper surface and, preferably, over lower surface of the batt such that the tufts on the upper and lower surfaces are secured to the surfaces by the adhesive. A flexible, protective foil is adjacent to, and preferably permanently adhered by the adhesive to, the lower surface of the batt. The protective foil has edge portions which extend beyond edges of the fibrous batt and the edge portions have a flexible adhesive disposed and adhered substantially over upper edge surfaces of the edge portions. The shield may be flexed and pressed to configure and permanently attach the tufted upper surface to an object to be shielded and the edge portions may be pressed to permanently attach the edge upper surfaces of the edge portions to the object so as to self-seal the edge portions to the object.

This application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/033,852, filed on Mar. 3, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,622,the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The presentinvention relates to an improved thermal and acoustical insulatingshield and more particularly to such shield which is adhesively attachedto an object to be protected. The present invention, more specifically,is an improvement of the invention disclosed in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/033,852 , filed on Mar. 3, 1998, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Thermal and acoustical insulating shields, to which the presentinvention is an improvement, have long been known in the art. Suchshields are used in a wide variety of applications, among which areshielding in space crafts, automobiles, home appliances, electroniccomponents, industrial engines, boiler plants and the like. Some of suchshields have proportionally smaller thermal insulating value andproportionally higher acoustical insulating value, and vice versa. Thereare, of course, shields which lie therebetween.

In connection with the thermal insulating value, shields are known whichprovide thermal insulation, primarily, by virtue of being a radiationthermal shield, while others provide thermal insulation by being,primarily, a conduction thermal shield, and, again, there are shieldsthat lie therebetween. For example, pressed and formed sheet metal haslong since been mounted by bolts, nuts, screws, welding, etc. between anobject to be protected, i.e. shielded, for example, the floor pan of anautomobile, and a heat source, for example, a portion of the exhaustsystem of the automobile. Such a formed sheet metal provides thermalinsulation, primarily, by re-radiation of heat from the portion of theexhaust system back into the ambient and/or other cooler parts of theundercarriage of an automobile to thermally insulate the floor pan fromthat portion of the exhaust. Such sheet metal shields, however, have lowacoustical insulating value, and a large portion of noise produced in anadjacent portion of an exhaust system can be transmitted through thefloor pan of the automobile and into the passenger compartment.Additional noise can be produced by loose shields which vibrate and/orrattle. Such sheet metal shields, also, provides thermal insulationvalue in connection with conductive heat, since such sheet metal shieldswill be spaced between the floor pan and the portion of the exhaust, andthat spacing provides an air gap between the shield and the floor panwhich reduces conductive, and to some extent, convective heat transfer.

Where substantial acoustical shielding is also required, metal shields,as described above, are not satisfactory. In such requirements, theshields generally are at least in part fibrous in nature, e.g. batts offiberglass, which provide increased acoustical insulation as well asgood conduction thermal insulation. However, such insulation can only beused where there are insignificant forces, both static and dynamic, onthe fibrous insulation, since batts of fiberglass, for example, havevery little strength in any direction, i.e. in either the X, Y or Zdirections. Such shields are, however, very useful in certainapplications, for example, thermal insulation in domestic dishwashers.

A very particular problem in regard to such shields has been encounteredby the automobile industry and like industries, and that problem hasbecome acute in recent years. As the overall size of automobilescontinues to shrink, space within any portion of the assembledautomobile is now at a premium. For example, in past designs ofautomobiles, sufficient room existed between the exhaust system of theautomobile and the floor tunnel of the automobile that the usual sheetmetal shield could be suspended in the tunnel, e.g. with bolts, screws,welding, and the like, with specially provided ears or dogs orconnectors, so as to space that sheet metal shield from the tunnel andfrom the exhaust system. This provided a radiation barrier to heattransfer from the exhaust system to the tunnel, as well as a conductiveand convective heat transfer barrier in view of the spacing between theshield and the tunnel. This design also provided some acousticalinsulation. However, with modern designs, the spacing between theexhaust system and the tunnel is now very much reduced, and in manysituations, it is now no longer practical to suspend shields between theexhaust and tunnel, and, moreover, the reduced spacing correspondinglyreduces any air gap remaining between the shield and the tunnel, suchthat very little conductive and convective heat insulation or acousticalinsulation results.

The art has long recognized that fibrous batts, usually containinginorganic fibers, such as glass fibers, mineral and clay wool fibers,alumina-silicate fibers, silica fibers and the like provide very goodthermal and acoustical insulation and could potentially be a replacementfor the suspended sheet metal shields. The problem with such insulationis that the batts, especially of such inorganic fibers, are usually madeby air laying fibers onto a moving belt, and, hence, the fibers tend tostratify in non-discrete layers throughout the thickness (Z direction)of the batts. Since these fibers are not substantially interlocked inthe z direction, the batt has very low Z-directional tensile strength.Even under static loading of its own weight, for example, a batt offiberglass will simply sag out of its original configuration whensuspended from an upper surface thereof. The art has, therefore,expended substantial effort in attempting to provide greater tensilestrength to such fibrous batts, in regard to both the X and Y directionsand the Z direction.

An early attempt in this regard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,975,565to Kendall, which proposes a composite structure of layered inorganicfibers and organic fibers which are needled together to provideinsulating batts (both thermal and acoustical) which have greatertensile strengths in all directions, especially in the Z direction. Inthis approach, an inorganic fiber layer, such as that of glass fibers,is sandwiched between two layers of organic fibers, for example,cellulose acetate fibers, and needling of the composite sandwichedlayers is achieved from either one or both sides of the composite so asto drive portions of the organic fibers from the organic fiber layer(s)through the inorganic fiber layer (glass fibers) and, thus, to tack thecomposite together and, particularly, improve the Z-directionalstrength. However, because of the needling technique used in thatprocess, the needle punch density could not be greater than about 260needle punches per square inch, since, at above about 260 needle punchesper square inch, glass fiber damage resulted and with a more than 25%loss of mat strength. While such an approach certainly improvedZ-directional strength, with such low numbers of needle punches, theZ-directional strength of such a composite is still quite low andunacceptable for most modern thermal/acoustical insulating applicationswhere substantial static and dynamic forces are placed on theinsulation, e.g. in suspended use with an automobile, as discussedabove.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,180 to Jaskowski, it is proposed to improve suchcomposite thermal and acoustical insulating batts by including in theinorganic fiber layers heat shrinkable organic fibers. After needling,the composite batt is subjected to temperatures sufficient to cause theorganic fibers to shrink, e.g. at least 40% in length, whereby theshrinking fibers mechanically interlock the inorganic fibers into a moreconsolidated form and therefor improve the strength, particularly in theZ direction. However, shrinking fibers is not only a difficult process,but is substantially uncontrollable, and this approach does not resultin uniform products. Moreover, the tensile strengths, and particularlythe Z-direction tensile strengths, are not greatly improved by thatprocess.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,876 to Hiers recognizes the problems noted above andspecifically addresses the problem of a low number of needle punchesdescribed in the Kendall patent and the undesired results thereof. TheHiers patent takes a different approach in that it achieves high numbersof needle punches per square inch by the technique of ensuring that thebarbs of needles passing through an organic fiber outer layer(s) areloaded with the organic fibers of that layer(s) before the barbs reachthe adjacent glass fiber layer. Since the barbs are filled with organicfibers, the barbs cannot engage and break the glass fibers as theneedles pass through the glass fiber layer, and the resulting batt canbe highly needled with exceptional Z-directional strength, as well asgreatly improved X- and Y-directional strengths. While this approach isa very decided advance in the art, it still encounters difficulties whensuch batts experience high static and dynamic loadings, such as in thecase of an automobile with a suspended shield, as described above. Thesedifficulties will be more clear hereinafter.

A somewhat different approach in the art is described in U.S. Pat. No.4,851,274 to D'Elia. In that approach, onto a needlable substrate isplaced a middle layer of mineral fibers of short lengths such as topreclude interlocking of other fibers of the structure. A top layer oforganic fibers is placed thereon. Needling is then achieved through thattop layer and middle layer to the substrate with needle punches up toabout 3,000 per square inch. Since the inorganic fibers are notsubstantially interlocked, the web becomes quite flexible and a bindercan be applied to that structure, such as a phenolic binder, and set forforming a moldable thermal and acoustical shield useful, for example, astrunk liners. However, the use of a synthetic resin to achieveformability of such a shield is a decided disadvantage, since it isquite expensive to use a binder, and, moreover, the shield must bemolded with conventional tools and dies, which themselves are quiteexpensive.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,095 to Behdorf et al attempts to solve the problemby yet a further approach. In this patent, it is proposed that a glassfiber mat be bonded to a sheet of aluminum by an adhesive of aparticular nature and that the adhesive-joined composite can be used asa shield between an automobile floorboard and an exhaust system. Thecomposite of the aluminum sheet and glass fiber mat is shaped to thecontours of the vehicle by conventional processes, such as deep drawing,combined deep drawing-stretching forming, bending and crimping. Theso-formed shield is then applied to the vehicle by a special clamp.While this approach provides a good thermal and acoustical insulation,it still requires conventional forming techniques, as noted above, toconfigure the shield to the object to be protected and also requiresspecial clamps for affixing the shield to the vehicle. All of this isexpensive and time consuming in assembly of the automobile and does notsolve the problem or severely limited space in modern designs, as notedabove.

As can be appreciated from the above, it would be of particularadvantage in the art to provide a thermal and acoustical insulatingshield which is flexible, so that it may be manually applied to thevehicle contours, or other structure, without having to be performed inconventional shaping processes, and which shield is adhesivelyattachable to the object to be protected and without the need of anymechanical attaching devices, such as clamps, bolts, screws, welds andthe like.

In the above-noted U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/033,852, aflexible, adhesively attachable thermal and acoustical insulating shieldis disclosed. According to the invention disclosed in that application,it was found that the needling technique of U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,876,described above, could be modified such that, in needling organic fibersfrom the organic fiber layer sandwiching the inorganic fiber layer,tufts of the organic fibers can protrude from opposite outer sides ofthe organic fiber layers so as to form a tufted surface and a tuftedlower surface of the needled batt.

An adhesive is applied to the tufted upper surface and tufted lowersurface of the batt, such that the tufts on the upper and lower surfacesare secured to those surfaces by the adhesive. This prevents the tuftsfrom being pulled from that surface during high static or dynamicloading of the shield, as would be encountered by use in an automobile,and, thus, provided very high Z-directional strength to that compositebatt.

To the adhesive applied on the lower surface of the batt, a flexibleprotective foil is permanently adhered by the adhesive to the lowersurface of the batt. This provides a lower protective surface to thecomposite batt to prevent mechanical damage, e.g. from rocks and otherdebris on the road, while at the same time providing radiationinsulation to the shield.

The adhesive on the upper surface of the batt is an activatibleadhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive and a flexible,strippable foil is releasably adhered to a pressure-sensitive adhesiveon the upper side of the batt, such that, by removing the strippablefoil, the shield may be merely flexed and pressed to configure andpermanently attach the upper surface of the shield to the object to beshielded. Thus, no forming apparatus or attachment means, such asclamps, bolts, screws, welds and the like, are required to permanentlyconfigure and place the shield onto the vehicle, e.g. underneath thefloor pan to protect the floor pan from exhaust components.

When the batt of the composite organic and inorganic fibers is ofcertain thicknesses and the protective foil is of certain materials andcertain thicknesses, the shield can be easily manually deformed by aworker when placing the shield next to the contours of the object to beprotected, and, accordingly, no preforming, such as conventionalstamping, drawing, etc., is required, although such preforming can bepracticed if desired.

Since the shield is adhesively attached directly to the object to beprotected, there is to need for a clearance between the object to beprotected, e.g. the floor pan, and the shield itself, which allows theuse of that shield in the very restricted and diminished spaces ofmodern automobile designs. However, with the combination of theprotective foil, particularly when that foil is a radiation barrierfoil, and the composite batt, high thermal insulation and highacoustical insulation results.

When pressing the protective foil and/or the strippable foil to theadhesive covered upper and lower tufted surfaces and when pressing theshield to the contours of the object, the tufts on the surfaces,embraced by the adhesive, tend to bend and compress from the vertical,further locking those tufts into the surfaces of the batt. This provideseven greater strength to the batt in the Z direction, because the bentor compressed tufts, somewhat like bradding, become very difficult toseparate from the surfaces of the batt and, thus, hold that batt in theZ direction with great strengths, and which strengths can avoidseparations of the batt during high static and dynamic loadings on thebatt.

Thus, the invention in that application provides a flexible, adhesivelyattachable, thermal and acoustical insulating shield. The shield has aneedled, flexible, fibrous batt having an insulating layer of insulatingfibers disposed between opposite binding layers of binding fibers.Binding fibers of each binder layer are needledly disposed through theinsulating layer and an opposite binding layer to provide tufts ofbinding fibers protruding from that opposite binding layer. This forms atufted upper surface and a tufted lower surface of the batt. An adhesiveis disposed and adhered substantially over the upper tufted surface andthe lower tufted surface of the batt such that the tufts on the tuftedupper and tufted lower surfaces are secured to those surfaces by theadhesive. A flexible, protective foil is permanently adhered by theadhesive to the tufted lower surface of the batt.

The shield may be flexed and pressed to configure and permanently attachthe upper surface to an object to be protected.

The invention in that application also provides a method of applying theshield of the invention to an object to be thermally and acousticallyprotected. In this method, the upper surface of the batt, with theadhesive exposed thereon, is pressed at the protective foil sufficientlyto configure the shield to the contours of the object to be protected,and the pressure-sensitive adhesive is caused to permanently adhere tothe contours of that object. Thus, by this method, the shield can beplaced directly and permanently on the object to be protected andwithout the need of any attachment devices, such as bolts, screws,welds, clamps and the like.

The invention of that application also provides that the shield may beclosed at its peripheries, as shown in FIG. 8 of that application, wherethe insulting batt is enclosed within protective foils by sealing theperipheries of those protective foils and then placing thepressure-sensitive adhesive and strippable foil on the top thereof. Thisarrangement prevents egress of moisture, contamination, dirt, dust andthe like into the insulating material, which is a very desirablefeature, but that approach does require two protective foils,sandwiching the insulating material, with the peripheries of the foilsbeing sealed in a separate sealing step. It further requires theseparate step of placing the adhesive and the strippable foil on theupper surface of the uppermost protective foil.

As can be appreciated, this results in a more expensive insulatingshield, and in that sense, the arrangement for enclosing the insulatingmaterial is not as desired.

It would, therefore, be of substantial advantage to the art to providemeans of sealing the insulating material of that application from egressof moisture, dust, dirt and other road contamination without theadditional expense of the arrangement noted in that application, asbriefly discussed above. It would, further, be of a substantialadvantage to the art to make such shield a self-sealing shield, so as toprevent egress of moisture, dust, dirt and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the present invention provides a flexible, adhesively attachable,self-sealing, thermal and acoustical insulating shield. The invention isbased on several primary and subsidiary discoveries.

First of all, it was found that the protective foil of the above-notedU.S. application could be extended so as to have edge portions whichextend beyond the edges of the fibrous batt insulating material. Theseedge portions, therefore, provide the ability of the shield to beself-sealing, in that those edge portions can be pressed against theobject to be protected so that the fibrous batt insulating material isenclosed between the protective foil, its edge portions and the objectto be protected.

As another discovery, it was found that those edge portions could beprovided with a flexible adhesive disposed and adhered substantiallyover edge upper surfaces of the edge portions. Thus, when those edgeportions, as well as the shield itself, are pressed against the objectto be protected, those edge portions, with the adhesive on edge uppersurfaces, can be adhesively attached to the object to be protected and,thus, seal the fibrous batt insulating material between the protectivefoil, its edge portions and the object to be protected.

It was also found that, with such approach, the present shield isself-sealing in that it is totally sealed to the object to be protectedby the adhesive at the upper surfaces of the edge portion.

As a subsidiary discovery, it was found that the same adhesive used foradhering the protective foil to the tufted lower surface of the fibrousbatt insulating material can be used on the edge upper surfaces of theedge portions as, simply, a continuation of that adhesive. This makesthe application of the adhesive to the edge upper surfaces veryconvenient.

As a subsidiary discovery, it was found that, with this approach, verylittle expense is involved, i.e. only the additional amount ofprotective foil which provides the edge portions and the additionalamount of adhesive disposed on edge upper surfaces of the edge portions.This is a very small incremental increase in the cost of the shield, butwith this improvement, the shield thus becomes a self-sealing thermaland acoustical insulating shield.

Accordingly, briefly stated, the present invention provides a flexible,adhesively attachable, self-sealing, thermal and acoustical insulatingshield. Just as in the above-noted U.S. patent application, the shieldhas a needled, flexible, fibrous batt having an insulating layer ofinsulating fibers disposed between opposite binding layers of bindingfibers. Binding fibers of each binding layer are needledly disposedthrough the insulating layer and an opposite binding layer to providetufts of binding fibers protruding from that opposite binding layer.This forms a tufted upper surface and a tufted lower surface of thebatt. A flexible adhesive is disposed and adhered substantially over thetufted upper surface of the batt such that the tufts on the tufted uppersurface are secured to that surface by the adhesive. A flexible,protective foil is disposed adjacent to the tufted lower surface of thebatt.

In the present improvement, the protective foil has edge portions whichextend beyond edges of the fibrous batt. Those edge portions have aflexible adhesive disposed and adhered substantially over edge uppersurfaces of the edge portions. Thus, the shield may be flexed andpressed to configure and permanently attach the tufted upper surface toan object to be shielded and the edge portions may be pressed topermanently attach the edge upper surfaces of the edge portions to anobject to be shielded so as to self-seal the edge portions, and hencethe shield, to that object.

Also, the present invention provides a method for producing theabove-described flexible, adhesively attachable, self-sealing thermaland acoustical insulating shield. The method comprises forming theabove-described fibrous batt, needling that batt to provide the bindingfibers as described above, applying and adhering the flexible adhesiveover the tufted upper surface as described above, and applying theflexible, protective foil, as described above.

The improvement in the method is where the protective foil has edgeportions which extend beyond edges of the fibrous batt. Those edgeportions have a flexible adhesive disposed and adhered substantiallyover edge upper surfaces of the edge portions. Thus, the shield may beflexed and pressed to configure and permanently attach the tufted uppersurface to an object to be shielded and the edge portions may be pressedto permanently attach the edge upper surfaces of the edge portion to theobject to be shielded so as to self-seal the edges portions, and hencethe shield, to the object.

Further, there is provided a method for applying that shield to anobject to be thermally and acoustically protected. In that method, theadhesive on the tufted upper surface and on the edge upper surfaces isexposed, e.g. by removing a strippable foil therefrom. The fibrous battis then pressed at the protective foil to configure the shield tocontours of the object to be shielded and causing the adhesive on thetufted upper surface to permanently adhere to the contours and pressingthe edge portions against the object to permanently seal the edgeportions, and hence the shield, to the object and, thus, provide aself-sealing shield.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of prior art shields;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration showing another form of prior artshields;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration showing prior art needling of aninorganic fiber layer sandwiched between inorganic fiber layers;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the tufted surfaces of theinvention, as described in the copending application;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the tufts, adhesive andfoils assembled to form the shield, as described in the copendingapplication;

FIG. 6A is a diagrammatic illustration of a stack of shields of theinvention, separated by release foils, as described in the copendingapplication;

FIG. 6B is a diagrammatic illustration of an embodiment of the inventiondescribed in the copending application where a strippable foil protectsadhesive on an upper surface of the shield;

FIG. 6C is a diagrammatic illustration of a stack of the shields, asdescribed in the copending application;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of another embodiment of theinvention, as described in the copending application;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic illustration of an embodiment of a sealedshield, as described in the copending application;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of the application of the shieldto an object to be protected, as described in the copending application;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic illustration of the needling technique used toproduce the fibrous batt, as described in the copending application

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the process for making the shield, asdescribed in the copending application;

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic illustration of the present improved shieldpartially adhered to an object to be shielded;

FIG. 13 is similar to FIG. 12, but shows edge portion sealed to theobject to be shielded;

FIG. 14 is a top view of a shield according to the present improvement;

FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic illustration of the present improved shield;and

FIGS. 16 and 17 show preferred forms of the process for making thepresent improved shield.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The prior art shields of the present nature were provided with an airgap between the shield and the object to be protected, and those shieldswere generally hung (suspended) from that object by clamps, bolts,screws, welds, and the like. FIG. 1 illustrates such prior art, e.g.such as the device of the Behdorf et al patent described above. As canbe seen from FIG. 1, an object 1 to be shielded, i.e. protected, couldbe, for example, the floor pan of an automobile. The heat source 2could, for example, be part of an exhaust system of an automobile. Asshown in FIG. 1, the shield 3 (usually a fibrous insulation batt) isheld by a support 4 and spaced from object 1 by brackets or clamps,etc., 5 so that an air gap, generally, 6 is between object 1 and shield3. This air gap 6 and the shield 3, in combination, provide relativelygood thermal and acoustical insulation, but, as can be seen from FIG. 1,the combination of the shield 3, support 4, brackets or clamps 5 and airgap 6 requires considerable space in the automobile, which is notacceptable with modern designs. Furthermore, shields of that nature aretime consuming to install and expensive.

The reason that the prior art required such arrangements, as brieflynoted above, is that in prior art shields of the present nature, theZ-directional strength of fibrous insulation batts is not sufficient forthe shield to sustain substantial static and dynamic loadings as wouldbe incurred in a modern automobile. FIG. 2 illustrates a prior artfibrous insulation batt material, typically made of glass fibers. InFIG. 2, the batt, generally, 20 has a number of glass fibers 21 disposedgenerally in the X, Y directions. While those glass fibers 21 can besignificantly interlocked in the X, Y directions, by virtue of themethod by which glass fiber batts are made, i.e. air laying of glassfibers, those fibers are not significantly interlocked in the Zdirection. Therefore, those batts have very little tensile strength inthe Z direction, and the batts 20 can easily separate at various planes22 in the Z direction. Thus, for example, if the batt has a covering 23(shown in part in FIG. 2) for suspending the batt 20 via an attachment24, the Z-directional strength is not sufficient to prevent the battfrom separating, e.g. at planes 22, under prolonged static and dynamicloading as might be occasioned, for example, in an automobile.

As also briefly described above, U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,876 to Hiersdiscloses a means of substantially increasing the Z-directional strengthof inorganic fiber batts, e.g. glass fiber batts, and FIG. 3 isillustrative thereof. In that figure, the batt, generally, 30 has layers31 and 32 of organic textile fibers sandwiching a glass fiber layer 33.By needle punching, in the manner described in that patent, organicfibers from organic fiber layers 31 and 32 are formed into stitches 34which proceed from one of the organic fiber layers 31 and 32, throughthe glass fiber batt 33 and into the opposite organic fiber layer 31,32. By using the needling technique disclosed in that patent, a largenumber of such stitches 34 can be utilized in needling that compositebatt so as to provide very high Z-directional strength. ThoseZ-directional strengths are acceptable for many applications, but wherevery high Z-directional strengths are required, such as in shields forautomobiles, separation of the batt in the Z direction can occur,especially under the conditions of long-term repetitive high static ordynamic loading.

The present shield uses a needled insulation batt similar to that of theHiers patent, but modified, i.e. where the needling has been modified toprovide tufts on opposite surfaces of the needled insulation batt. Asshown in FIG. 4, the present insulation batt, generally, 40 also hasorganic fiber layers which function as binding layers 41 and 42. Aninsulating layer 43 of insulating fibers 44 is disposed between oppositebinding layers 41 and 42 of binding fibers 45. Binding fibers 45 of eachbinding layer are needledly disposed through the insulating layer 43 andan opposite binding layer 41, 42 to provide tufts 46 of binding fibers45 protruding from the opposite binding layer so as to form a tuftedupper surface 47 and a tufted lower surface 48 of insulation batt 40. Inthis regard, and as used in this specification and claims, the termsupper and lower are intended only as identifier designations and are notintended to indicate direction.

The tufts 46 on opposite surface, i.e. tufted upper surface 47 andtufted lower surface 48, lock the binding fibers 45 (in the form ofstitches, generally 34) such that those stitches 34 cannot pull throughthe composite upon high static or dynamic loading in the Z direction ofthe insulation batt 40. The presence of these tufts 46 greatly increasesthe Z-directional strength of the so-needled batt, but the needlingstill leaves the insulation batt very flexible, so that the batt can beeasily bent to desired configurations.

While the tufts 46 provide very high Z-directional strength thatZ-directional strength is further increased, as shown in FIG. 5. In thatfigure, a flexible adhesive 50 is disposed and adhered substantiallyover the tufted upper surface 47 and preferably over tufted lowersurface 48 (shown only partially disposed in FIG. 5 for clarity). Theapplication of the adhesive 50 causes the tufts 46 to be somewhatdeformed or bent from the plane of surface 47 and, preferably surface48, of insulation batt 40 such that the tufted 46 on the tufted uppersurface 47, and preferably tufted lower surface 48, are secured to thesurfaces 47, 48 by the adhesive 50. The distortion of turfts 46 greatlyincreases the resistance of the binding fibers 45 from pulling from theopposite surface and therefore causing a failure (separation) of thebatt in the Z direction. In addition, once the adhesive 50 is set, thatadhesive adheres the tufts 46 to the respective surfaces 47, 48, andthis further increases the Z-directional strength of the insulation batt40.

However, that Z-directional strength is even further increased, as alsoshown in FIG. 5. A flexible, protective foil 51 (only partially shown inFIG. 5 for clarity) is disposed adjacent to, and preferably, permanentlyadhered by the adhesive 50 to, the lower surface 48 of the insulationbatt 40, and in the application of that foil 51, tufts 46 are furtherdistorted, e.g. flattened, bent, splayed, bradded, and the like, so asto further increase the resistance of binding fibers 45 of stitches 34from pulling through the batt 40 upon high static or dynamic loading.

Preferably, but not required, a flexible, strippable foil 52 (onlypartially shown in FIG. 5 for clarity) is releasably adhered by adhesive50 to the tufted upper surface 47 of insulation batt 40. Thus, similarto the effect of protective foil 51, the application of strippable foil52, likewise, distorts tufts 46 and further locks and secures thosetufts to tufted upper surface 47.

However, a strippable foil is not required, especially for the reasonsexplained below. When a pressure-sensitive adhesive is used, however, itis necessary to protect the pressure-sensitive adhesive frominadvertently sticking to some object during shipping and handling ofthe shields. This can be done, however, simply by inserting a releasefoil between stacked shields, as shown in FIG. 6A, where a stack,generally, 60 of the shields 61 has a release foil 62 between shields 61and over the upper surface 47 of insulation batt 40 with apressure-sensitive adhesive 50 thereof (see FIG. 5). Thus, such a stack60 can be shipped and handled. From the stack 60, individual shields 61can, therefore, be serially removed for application to a series ofobjects to be protected, e.g. a series of automobiles in a productionline.

When a shield 61 is removed from the stack, the upper surface 47 has thepressure-sensitive adhesive 50 exposed and when that upper surface ispressed onto an object to be protected, as explained in more detailbelow, the tufts 46 will be further distorted, in the same manner asdescribed above in connection with application of the protective foil 51to the adhesive. Accordingly, the same results of the in-place shieldwill follow when a release foil is used between shields in a stack ofshields as occurs when a strippable foil is used. However, care must betaken to ensure that the stack remains in place to protect thepressure-sensitive adhesive 50 on the upper surface 47. In addition, apreforming operation, as described below, would be difficult to performwith only a release foil. For this reason, the strippable foil ispreferred. The release foil may be made of the same material as thestrippable foil, as discussed below.

The shield shown in FIG. 6B has a strippable foil 52 releasably adheredby a pressure-sensitive adhesive 50 to the upper surface 47 ofinsulation batt 40 such that, by removal of strippable foil 52, asindicated in FIG. 6B, the shield may be flexed and pressed to configureand permanently attach the tufted upper surface 47 to an object 1 to beprotected.

Instead of release foil between shields of a stack of shields, thelowermost surface of protective foil 51 can be coated with a releasecoating so that stacked shields can be handled and then separated. Thisembodiment is shown in FIG. 6C, where each shield 61 has a coating 63 ofa release material on the lowermost surface of protective foil 51.

The insulation batt 40 may be of various thicknesses, depending upon thedegree of thermal and acoustical insulation required, the particularbinding fibers 45 of binding layers 41, 42 and the particular insulatingfibers 44 of insulating layer 43. However, generally speaking, theinsulation batt 40 will have a thickness of between about 0.1 to 2.0inches. Similarly, depending upon the fibers and application, the weightratio of the insulating layer 43 to each binding layer 41, 42 can varyconsiderably, but, generally speaking, that ratio will be between about0.5 and 12.0:1. The weight of each of the binding layers 41, 42 can bedifferent, depending upon the application, but usually, for mostapplications, the weight of each binding layer is substantially thesame.

The insulating fibers preferably will be any of the usual inorganicfibers, such as glass fibers, mineral fibers, alumina fibers and thelike, but, more usually, the insulating fibers are glass fibers.However, where the requirement for thermal insulation is lower and therequirement for acoustical insulation is higher, the insulating fibersneed not be inorganic fibers and may be, at least in part, organicfibers, such as polyester fibers, nylon fibers and the like. Thosefibers may be solid or hollow, the latter of which provides a greaterthermal insulation.

The binding fibers are normally organic fibers, such as polyesterfibers, nylon fibers, olefin fibers, and cellulose acetate fibers.

The denier of the insulating fibers can vary considerably, but,generally speaking, deniers from about 0.1 to 25 are acceptable in mostapplications. Likewise, the denier of the binding fibers, e.g. organicfibers, can vary widely, but more usually that denier will be betweenabout 2 and 15.

The fiber length of the insulating fibers can be from very shortlengths, e.g. 50 microns, up to fairly long lengths, e.g. 5 inches.Fiber lengths of the binding fibers will normally be between about 0.2and 8.0 inch.

The needle density in preparing the batts can vary widely, dependingupon the Z-directional tensile strength required for the anticipatedstatic or dynamic loading on the shield. However, the needledly disposedbinding fibers 45, as shown in FIG. 5 will generally have a needlingdensity of between about 500 and 10,000 needle punches per square inchof the batt 40. Thus, there are, likewise, between about 500 and 10,000tufts 46 per square inch on the tufted upper surface 47 and the tuftedlower surface 48. However, more usually, there will be between about 700and 5,000 tufts 46 per square inch on the tufted upper surface 47 andthe tufted lower surface 48.

The increased strength of the needled insulation batt 40, especially inthe Z-direction, is generally proportional to the number and size of thetufts. Aside from the number of tufts, as described above, the tuftsshould have a size such that the increase in strength of the batt in theZ-direction is at least 50% per 1,000 tufts per square inch, and morepreferably about at least 100% per 1,000 tufts per square inch, asopposed to the same batt material but untufted. The increase can,however, be much higher.

The adhesive can be any desired known adhesive, but preferably theadhesive is an activatable adhesive, such as an adhesive activated byheat, a solvent or pressure, e.g. a conventional polyester adhesive.Thus, the adhesive may be activated by heating with a hot air gun or anI.R. heater or hot roll or block or activated by spraying or brushing asolvent thereonto or activated by pressure (pressure-sensitiveadhesive), all of which are well known in the art. The preferredadhesives, however, are a pressure-sensitive adhesive or heatactivatable adhesive. The adhesive may be applied by spraying, coatingor a “transfer tape” (a film of adhesive on one or both sides of a foilor paper). The pressure-sensitive adhesive of a preferred embodiment maybe chosen from a wide variety of known pressure-sensitive adhesives, buta preferred pressure-sensitive is the commercial acrylate adhesive, andparticularly methacrylate adhesive and ethyacrylate adhesive.

The protective foil 51 can be of a variety of materials, e.g. plastics,metals, fabrics (woven and non-woven) and the like, but it is preferablethat the protective foil 51 be either a metal foil, especially aluminumfoil, or a plastic foil, especially a polyester plastic foil. Morepreferably, the foil will have a heat-reflecting color, either naturallyor as a pigment in the foil or as a coating on the foil. For example,where the foil is made of aluminum, the aluminum, per se, has aheat-reflective color. On the other hand, where the foil is a plasticfoil, such as polyester foil, that polyester foil can be coated withaluminum to provide a heat-reflective color. The thickness of theprotective foil can vary considerably, but generally the thickness ofthe foil will be between about 1 mil and 100 mils, although thicknesseswill more generally be between about 2 mils and 10 mils.

Somewhat similarly, the strippable foil 52 or the release foil 62 may bea metal or a plastic or a textile or a paper, but it is preferred thatthe foil is a conventional 1.5 mil polyethylene terephatlate film withsilicone coating on one side as the release agent. The strippable foilor release foil can have any conventional release coating, e.g. apolyolefin coating, on any side thereof which contact an adhesive, e.g.pressure-sensitive adhesive, so that the foil may be easily removed fromthe shield to expose the adhesive for adhering the shield to a surfaceof the object to be protected. The foil can be of any desired thickness,but generally that thickness will be between about 1 mil and 50 mils.

The shield may also be in the forms of layers of shields, such as shownin FIG. 7, where the shield has two layers 70 and 71 of batts 40 adheredtogether by adhesive 50 and having the protective foil 51 and thestrippable foil 52 (or release foil 62). Of course, more than two layerscould be used.

The shield of the copending application may be closed at itsperipheries, as shown in FIG. 8, where the batt 40 is enclosed withinprotective foil 51 by sealing the periphery 80 of the protective foil 51and then placing the pressure-sensitive adhesive 50 and strippable foil52 on top thereof. This, however, as explained above, is expensive andnot as desired.

The shield, as described above, may be applied to an object forthermally and acoustically protecting that object. As shown in FIG. 6B,by removing the strippable foil 52 from the tufted upper surface 47 ofthe batt 40 (or removing a shield from stack 60, as shown in FIG. 6C),the pressure-sensitive adhesive 50 thereon is exposed. As shown in FIG.9, the copending application teaches that by pressing the batt 40 at theprotective foil 51 sufficiently to configure the shield to contours 90of the object, generally, 91 to be protected, this causes thepressure-sensitive adhesive 50 to permanently adhere to the contours 90.Preferably, the pressing at the protective foil 51 is a manual pressing,as shown in FIG. 9. However, prior to removing the strippable foil 52,the shield may be subjected to a performing step to conform the shieldto the general contours 90 of the object 91. This will allow less manualforming of the shield to the contours 91 where the contours are quitecomplex in configuration.

The needling used in producing the present batt is illustrated in FIG.10. As a needle 100 having a barb 101 begins to penetrate binding layer42, the bard 101 picks up and is essentially loaded with binding fibers45 in that barb. The needle then passes through insulating layer 43without picking up substantial insulating fibers since the barb isessentially loaded. The needle then passes through the opposite bindinglayer 41 such that the barb penetrates below the tufted lower surface 48and presents a tuft 46 beyond that tufted lower surface 48. As theneedle 100 is withdrawn back through binding layer 41, that tuft 46remains at the tufted lower surface 48. Of course, during that needlingoperation, as is common with barbed needles, binding fibers 45 will alsobe pulled with the needles to form stitches 34 of those binding fibers,as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, with the retraction of the needle 100, thetufts 46 which terminate the stitches 34 of fibers 45 remain of thesurface. By using conventional needling machines, where needling isconducted from both sides of batt 40, tufts will be disposed on both thetufted upper surface 47 and the tufted lower surface 48, as shown inFIG. 5.

To achieve the tufted surfaces, at least the lowermost barb of anyneedle should pass through tufted lower surface 48 or tufted uppersurface 47, depending upon the needle direction, sufficiently such thatthe tufted fibers remain on the respective surface when the needle 100is withdrawn from the batt 40. Generally speaking, that lowermost barbshould penetrate beyond surface 48 (or surface 47) by at least about1/16 inch, more preferably at least about ⅛ inch, e.g. about ⅓ inch, andeven up to as much as ½ inch or ¾ inch. This will ensure that asubstantial tuft is placed on the surface with each needle punch.

The generalized overall process of producing the present shield is shownin FIG. 11. To produce the present shield, a flexible fibrous batt of aninsulating layer of insulating fibers is disposed between oppositecarded binding layers of binding fibers, i.e. formed by carding abinding layer, then placing an insulating layer thereover, eitherpreformed or by carding, and then carding a binding layer thereover, allin the conventional manner. Thereafter, the batt is needled in themanner described in connection with FIG. 10 such that the binding fibers45 of each binding layer 41, 42 are needled through the insulating layer43 and opposite binding layer 41, 42 to provide tufts 46 of bindingfibers 45 protruding from the opposite binding layer 41, 42 so as toform a tufted upper surface 47 and a tufted lower surface 48 of batt 40.The adhesive 50 is applied to the tufted upper surface 47 and the tuftedlower surface 48 or batt 40 such that the tufts 46 on the tufted uppersurface 47 and tufted lower surface 48 are secured to surfaces 47, 48 bythe adhesive 50. A flexible, protective foil 51 is applied to, andpreferably permanently adhered by the adhesive 50 to, the tufted lowersurface 48 of the insulation batt 40, and, preferably, a flexible,strippable foil 52 is applied and releasably adhered by the adhesive 50to the tufted upper surface 47 of the batt 40.

Thus, the shield may be flexed and pressed to configure and permanentlyattach the upper surface 47 to the object to be shielded 91.

FIGS. 12 through 15, in detail, the present improvement. As will be seenfrom those figures, the present improvement functions in the same manneras the shield of the copending application in connection with attachingthe shield to an object 1 by way of a flexible adhesive 50 disposed andadhered substantially over the tufted upper surface 47. In the samemanner of the shield of the copending application, the protective foil51 adjacent to, and preferably permanently adhered by adhesive 50 to,the tufted lower surface 48. However, in the present improvement, theprotective foil 51 has edge portions 112, which extend beyond edges 113of the fibrous batt 40. Those edge portions 112 have a flexible adhesive114 disposed and adhered substantially over edge upper surfaces 115.

Thus, when the shield is flexed and pressed to configure and permanentlyattach the tufted upper surface 47 to the object 1 to be shielded, theedge portions 112 are also pressed to permanently attach the edge uppersurfaces 115 of the edge portions 112 to the object 1 to be shielded soas to self-seal the edge portions 112 to the object 1, as shown in FIG.13.

The flexible adhesive 114 can be the same or different adhesive as theflexible adhesive 50 on the tufted upper surface 47 and/or the tuftedlower surface 48 of insulation batt 40. Indeed, as shown in FIG. 12, theadhesive 114 is simply a continuation of an adhesive 50 applied to thetufted lower surface 48. This greatly simplifies the application of theadhesive 114 to the present improvement. Thus, the adhesive 114, interms of its composition and alternatives, can be exactly the same asthe adhesive 50 described above in connection with the adhesive of thecopending application or other adhesives.

As an alternative and as best seen in FIG. 13, the adhesive 50 on thetufted upper surface 47 may extend onto edge portions 112. In thisarrangement, with or without the adhesive 50 on tufted lower surface 48,the batt 40 is sealed, during manufacture of the shield, between foil 51and adhesive 50 on upper tufted surface 47 to make a liquid tightenclosure of batt 40 even before pressing the shield during installationthereof. When the edge portions 112 are pressed so as to permanentlyattach the upper edge surfaces 115 to the object 1, in addition to thepressing of protective foil 50 to adhere the tufted upper surface 47 toobject 1 by way of adhesive 50, then the entire shield becomesself-sealing between protective foil 51, edge portions 112 and object 1.This, of course, will prevent egress of moisture, road dust, dirt andthe like from entering into the shield during use of the shield, forexample, on an automobile. In addition, adhered edge portions 112increase the adherence of the total shield to object 1.

As best seen in FIGS. 14 and 15, the protective foil 51 has edgeportions 112 which embrace the fibrous insulation batt 40. Those edgeportions 112 have adhesive 114 (only partially shown in FIG. 14), which,as noted above, can simply be an extension of adhesive 50 (see FIGS. 12and 13). In addition, in the preferred embodiment, a strippable foil 52(only partially shown in FIG. 14) is placed over the entire shield forthe purposes described above in connection with the shield of thecopending application. Thus, in applying the shield to object 1, thestrippable foil is removed from both the adhesive 50 and the adhesive114 (as noted above, these may be the same or different adhesive), so asto expose the adhesive on the tufted upper surface and the edge uppersurface 115. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, insulation batt 40 is pressed atprotective foil 51 to configure the shield to contours 90 of the object91 to be protected and causing adhesive 50 on the tufted upper surface47 to permanently adhere to the contours 90. At the same time, the edgeportions 112 (see FIGS. 12 and 13) are pressed against the object (91 inFIG. 9 and 1 in FIGS. 12 and 13) to permanently seal the edge portions112 to that object.

The edge portions 112, as best seen in FIG. 14, should extend beyondedges 113 of the fibrous insulation batt 40 sufficiently to allow theedge portions 112 to be configured, bent and adhered to object 1, asshown in FIG. 13. Of course, how much the edge portions 112 shouldextend beyond edges 113 of fibrous insulation batt 40 depends upon,among others, the thickness of insulation batt 40 and how much sealingbetween the edge portions 112 and the object 1 is desired. However,generally speaking, the edge portions can extend beyond edges 113 fromabout one-half to about one inch and still provide good self-sealingwith quite acceptable increase in cost of the shield, although edgeportions greater or less than this may be used if so desired.

As will be easily appreciated, the general overall process for producingthe present improved shield is that as described above, with theexception that the adhesive 50 is better applied to protective foil 51than to the lower tufted surface 48 of insulation batt 40. Thiseliminates a separate step of applying the adhesive 114 to edge portions112. By applying the adhesive to an upper surface of the protective foil51, and then placing the fibrous insulation batt 40 thereon, theadhesive 114 at edge portions 112 will automatically be in place and noseparate adhesive applying step to the edge portions is required.Further, and in addition, the strippable foil 52 will be applied notonly to the adhesive 50 on the tufted upper surface 47, but to theadhesive 114 on edge portions 112.

One means of placing adhesive 50 onto tufted upper surface 47 and onedge portions 112, when not applied to edge portions 112 as generallydescribed above, is by use of a “transfer tape”, as briefly describedabove. A transfer tape has a film of pressure-sensitive adhesive adheredto a strippable foil. Thus, that transfer tape can be placed over tuftedupper surface 47 and edge portions 112 and pressed such as to fullyadhere the tape with the release foil thereon to tufted upper surface 47and the edge upper surfaces 115 of edge portions 112. In this process,therefore, the adhesive on the tufted upper surface 47 and the edgeportions 112 is applied in a single step and with the release foil 52already applied thereto. In this means of assembling the shield, ofcourse, adhesive 50, preferably, is applied to tufted lower surface 48and/or protective foil 51 and is pressed there-against to adhere thefibrous insulation batt 40 to the protective foil 51 or vice versa.Thereafter, the “transfer tape” is applied, as described above. However,in some applications where high strengths are not required, no adhesivebetween the tufted lower surface 48 and protective foil 51 is required.In such applications, the adhesive 50 is not applied to tufted lowersurface 48 and the entire shield is assembled by pressing a laid-upcombination of protective foil 51, insulation batt 40 and the transfertape, as described above. This, however, is not a preferred embodiment,since it requires the bending of the tufts to all occur during thepressing of the laid-up combination and does not adhesively bind thetufts on the lower surface 48.

The most preferred method of producing the present improved shieldsinvolve a three-step process. In the first step, the insulation batt 40is separately produced by the needling technique described above. Theinsulation batt 40 is then die cut into pieces of the correctconfiguration for a particular shield.

In a second separate step, the cut insulation pieces are placed, in acorrectly spaced-apart position, on a tape having a pressure-sensitiveadhesive on the upper side thereof. Simply placing, e.g. dropping thecut pieces of the insulation batt into the pressure-sensitive adhesivewill hold the pieces in place during further processing. A heatactivatable film of adhesive, e.g. heat activatable polyester adhesive,is placed over the cut pieces of insulating batt and the protective foilis placed over the film of adhesive. This assembly is then passedthrough the nip of two rolls with the roll next to the protective foilbeing heated sufficiently to heat the film of adhesive, causing it tomelt, tackify and adhere the protective foil to the pieces and forming alaminate thereof.

In the third step, the so-produced laminate is die cut to produce theshields.

FIG. 16 shows this preferred process in regard to steps two and three,since step one is fully discussed above. As can be seen from FIG. 16, aroll 160 of pressure-sensitive adhesive on a strippable foil, asdescribed above, i.e. a tape 160a is unwound onto a support 161, and diecut pieces 162 of insulation batt (in the form of pre-cut blanks) aremoved by conventional robotic “pick and place” positioner 163, with aplacement arm 164, from a supply 165 thereof to selected positions 166.When the die cut pieces 162 are dropped onto the tape 160a(pressure-sensitive adhesive side up) by the placement arm 164, theheight of the arm above the tape 160a is such that the fall of the diecut pieces 162 is sufficient for the die cut pieces 162 to be adhered tothe pressure-sensitive adhesive on tape 160a and remain in the selectedposition. The tape 160a with die cut pieces 162 thereon is passedthrough the nip 167 of heated roll 168 and pressure roll 169 (or bothmay be heated). Heated roll 168 (preferably a metal roll) may have adecorative pattern embossed thereon and pressure roll 169 is preferablya resilient roll or a resilient surfaced roll such as a high temperaturerubber roll or surfaced roll.

Also passing though nip 167 is a high temperature adhesive film 170,e.g. a polyester adhesive film, which is unwound from adhesive filmsupply roll 171 and a metal foil 172, e.g. aluminum foil, unwound frommetal foil supply roll 173. Heated roll 168 and pressure roll 169 form alaminate 174 of all the tape 160a, die cut pieces 162, adhesive film 170and metal foil 172 by way of the heated roll 168 causing the adhesivefilm 170 to melt or tackify and adhere those components together as alaminate 174.

A conventional part sensor 175 senses the leading edge of a cut piece162 in laminate 174 at the proper time causes die cutter 176 to cutlaminate 174 into complete shields 177 as described above. The scrap 178of the laminate 174 is wound up for disposal.

The above-described process is, quite obviously, amendable to a numberof variations thereof, and FIG. 17 shows a particularly usefulvariation. In FIG. 17, like elements have the same reference numerals asin FIG. 16. As can be seen from FIG. 17, in that variation, the metalfoil 172, unwound from supply roll 173, has placed thereon the adhesivefilm 170 which is unwound from supply roll 171. The cut pieces 162 areplaced on the adhesive film 170 by the “pick and place” positioner 163and that combination is passed over a hot bed zone 180 which melts ortackifies adhesive film 170. Then, the tape 160a, unwound from supplyroll 160, is placed thereover. All of these then pass through nip 167 ofresilient rolls 181 and 182, e.g. high temperature rubber rolls or hightemperature surfaced rubber rolls, where laminate 174 is formed. Theremainder of the process is the same as described in connection withFIG. 16.

The invention will now be illustrated by the following examples, whereall percentages are by weight, unless indicated otherwise, as is alsothe case of the specification.

EXAMPLE

A first web of 3 denier, 3 inches staple length polyester fibers wascarded onto a moving conveyor belt with the web having a weight of about2 ounces per square yard. A preformed glass fiber batt (Owens CorningSR-26 range glass) 1 inch thick and 1 lb./cu. ft. density was unrolledonto the moving conveyor and placed on top of the carded web ofpolyester fibers. A second web of polyester fibers, which was the sameas the first web, was carded onto the moving conveyor and on top to theglass fiber batt, so as to form a sandwich of the glass fiber battbetween the two carded polyester fiber webs.

The sandwich was passed from the conveyor to a conventionaldouble-acting needle loom (Shoou Shyng Model SDP250112-2) fitted withconventional needles (Groz Beckert 15-18-36-3, style F 333). Thesandwich was needled in the double-acting loom with needle punches ofapproximately 800 needle punches per square inch, with needlepenetrations such that the barbs of the needles extended beyond theopposite surface of the sandwich by about ⅛ to ⅓ inch, so as to place atuft of polyester fibers on that opposite surface at about all needlepunches.

The needle-punched sandwich was die cut to pieces configured to theshape of a desired shield to provide the fibrous batt of the shield. Thedie cut pieces were spaced apart laminated between an aluminum foil(zero temper, 1100 alloy, 0.01 inch thick) and a pressure-sensitive tape(Avery 8346—a PET 0.5 mil film with acrylic adhesive on both sides)using a heat activated polyester adhesive laminating film (Turex P-900)and a heated laminator (minimum laminating temperature 450° F.) havingpressure exerting nip rubber rollers (about 40-60 psi nip pressure), asshown in FIG. 16.

The so-produced product was die cut, as shown in FIG. 16, to provideedge portions of the product which extended beyond the edges of thefibrous batt by one inch.

A pull-tab on the release paper was provided by arranging the cuttingdie to not cut through to the release paper on the pressure-sensitivetape at a small section.

Samples of shaped shields were tested by removing the release paper andpressing the shields from the aluminum foil side to configure theshields to various contours and permanently adhere the shields to thosecontours. At the same time, the edge portions were pressed to thecontours to self-seal the shield to the contours.

A. Samples of a batt material which had been needled, but not laminated,as recited above, were prepared by cutting (stamping) approximately 10inches by 2 inches samples and cutting the samples in a plane parallelto the sample surfaces and mid-point of the thickness of the sample toprovide two separated cut sections of the sample, each having a cutlength of about 1 inch. One of the cut sections were clamped in one jawof an Instron machine and the other cut section was clamped in the otherjaw of the Instron machine. The jaws were separated by the machine at across-head speed of about 10 feet per minute and the average internalbond of the samples was determined to be about 9 Newtons.

B. Samples of the product of this example (after lamination and cutting)were similarly tested. The average internal bond of the samples wasdetermined to be about 31 Newtons.

C. As a comparison, samples of a needled butt according to U.S. Pat. No.4,522,876 to Hiers (see FIG. 3), but not laminated as recited above weresimilarly tested. The internal bond of these samples was between 1.5 and5 Newtons (average about 3 Newtons).

Thus, it can be seen that the samples of A, above, have a very improvedinternal bond by virtue of the needled tufts, as opposed to the needlingof the Hiers patent (the samples of C, above), and a very high internalbond is achieved when the needled batt is laminated according to thisexample (the samples of B, above).

Further, this improved shield is self-sealing, as described above, whenthe edge portions are adhered to the object to be protected.

D. A sample of this example was placed in a flat steel pan and adheredto the bottom of that pan by pressing from the aluminum foil side toseal the shield and its one-half inch edge portions to the bottom of thepan. Gasoline was poured into the pan to submerge the adhered shield.After 2 hours 40 minutes of submergence, the gasoline was poured off.The adhered shield was examined for gasoline penetration through theedge portions, and it was determined that the maximum gasolinepenetration of the edge portions was 1/16 inch. The shield was stillfirmly attached to the bottom of the pan. This is a test for suchshields which are intended for protection of automobile gasoline tanks.

It will be appreciated that obvious modifications can be made to thespecific embodiments disclosed above, and it is intended that thoseobvious modifications are embraced by the spirit and scope of theannexed claims. In the claims, the drawing reference numerals are forconvenience only and are not limitations of the claims.

1. A flexible, adhesively attachable, self-sealing, thermal andacoustical insulating shield, comprising: (1) a needled, flexible,fibrous batt (40) having an insulating layer (43) of insulating fibers(44) disposed between opposite binding layers (41, 41) of binding fibers(45) with binding fibers (45) of each binding layer (41, 42) of fibers (44, 45 ), some of the fibers ( 45 ) located at a bottom portion of thebatt ( 40 ) and a top portion of the batt ( 40 ) being needledlydisposed through the insulating layer (43) and an opposite binding layer(41, 42) batt ( 40 ) to provide tufts (46) of binding fibers (45)protruding from the opposite binding layer (41, 42) the fibrous batt (40 ) so as to form a tufted upper surface (47) and a tufted lowersurface (48) of the batt (40); (2) a flexible adhesive (50), disposedand adhered substantially over the tufted upper surface (47) such thatthe tufts (46) on the upper surface (47) are secured to that surface bythe adhesive (50); and (3) a flexible, protective foil (51) adjacent tothe tufted lower surface (48) of the batt (40), said protective foil(51) having edge portions (112) which extend beyond edges (113) of thefibrous batt (40) and said edge portions (112) having a flexibleadhesive (114) disposed and adhered substantially over edge uppersurfaces (115) of the edge portions (112); and wherein the shield may beflexed and pressed to configure and permanently attach the tufted uppersurface (47) to an object (1) to be shielded and the edge portions (112)may be pressed to permanently attach the edge upper surfaces (115) ofthe edge portions (112) to the object (1) to be shielded so as toself-seal the edge portions (112) to the object (1).
 2. The shield ofclaim 1, wherein the tufted lower surface (48) of the batt (40) hasdisposed and adhered substantially thereover a flexible adhesive (50)such that tufts (46) on the tufted lower surface (48) are secured tothat surface and the flexible, protective foil (51) is permanentlyadhered by the adhesive (50) to the tufted lower surface (48) of thebatt (40).
 3. The shield of claim 2, wherein the adhesive (50) on thetufted upper surface (47) and the adhesive (114) on the edge uppersurfaces (115) are a pressure-sensitive adhesive and a flexible,strippable foil (52) is releasably adhered by the pressure-sensitiveadhesive (50, 114) to the tufted upper surface (47) of the batt (40) andthe edge upper surfaces (115) such that by removal of the strippablefoil (52) the pressure-sensitive adhesive (50, 114) on the tufted uppersurface (47) and the edge upper surfaces (115) is exposed.
 4. The shieldof claim 1, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes an insulating layer ( 43 )of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed between opposite binding layers (41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), the batt (40) has a thickness about0.1 and 3 inches, the weight ratio of insulating layer (43) to eachbinding layer (41, 42) is about 0.5 to 12.0:1, and the weight of eachbinding layer (41, 42) is substantially the same.
 5. The shield of claim1, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes an insulating layer ( 43 ) ofinsulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed between opposite binding layers ( 41,42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), and the insulating fibers (44) areinorganic fibers.
 6. The shield of claim 5, wherein the insulatingfibers are glass fibers.
 7. The shield of claim 1, wherein the batt ( 40) includes an insulating layer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 )disposed between opposite binding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers (45 ), and the binding fibers (45) are organic fibers.
 8. The shield ofclaim 7, wherein the organic fibers are polyester fibers, nylon fibers,olefin fibers and cellulose acetate fibers.
 9. The shield of claim 2,wherein the needledly disposed binding fibers have a needling density ofbetween about 500 and 10,000 needle punches per square inch of the batt(40) and there are between about 500 and 10,000 tufts per square inch ofthe batt (40) on the tufted upper surface (47) and the tufted lowersurface (48).
 10. The shield of claim 9, wherein there are between about700 and 5,000 tufts per square inch on the tufted upper surface (47) andthe tufted lower surface (48).
 11. The shield of claim 2, wherein theadhesive (50, 114) is a pressure-sensitive adhesive containing anacrylate.
 12. The shield of claim 11, wherein the acrylate is selectedfrom the group consisting of methacrylate and ethyacrylate.
 13. Theshield of claim 1, wherein the protective foil has a thickness ofbetween about 2 mils and 100 mils.
 14. The shield of claim 13, whereinthe thickness is between about 10 mils and 50 mils.
 15. The shield ofclaim 2, wherein the protective foil is a metal foil or a plastic foil.16. The shield of claim 15, wherein the protective foil is an aluminumfoil or a polyester foil.
 17. The shield of claim 3, wherein thestrippable foil has a thickness of between about 1 mil and 50 mils. 18.The shield of claim 17, wherein the strippable foil has a releasecoating on a side thereof which contacts the pressure-sensitiveadhesive.
 19. The shield of claim 18, wherein the strippable foil is ametal foil, plastic foil or paper foil.
 20. The shield of claim 19,wherein the strippable foil is a paper foil.
 21. A method for producinga flexible, adhesively attachable, self-sealing, thermal and acousticalinsulating shield, comprising: (1) forming a flexible, fibrous batt (40)having an insulating layer (43) of insulating fibers (44) disposedbetween opposite binding layers (41, 42) of binding fibers (45) offibers ( 44, 45 ); (2) needling the batt (40) such that binding fibers(45) of each binding layer (41, 42) some of the fibers ( 45 ) located ata bottom portion of the batt ( 40 ) and a top portion of the batt ( 40 )are needled through the insulating layer (43) and opposite binding layer(41, 42) batt ( 40 ) to provide tufts (46) of binding fibers (45)protruding from the opposite binding layer (41, 42) the fibrous batt (40 ) so as to form a tufted upper surface (47) and a tufted lowersurface (48) of the batt (40); (3) applying and adhering a flexible,adhesive (50) over substantially the tufted upper surface (47) of thebatt (40) such that the tufts (46) on the tufted upper (41) are securedto that surface (47) by the adhesive (50); and (4) applying a flexible,protective foil (51) to the tufted lower surface (48) of the batt (40),said protective foil (51) having edge portions (112) which extend beyondedges (113) of the fibrous batt (40) and said edge portions (112) havinga flexible adhesive (114) disposed and adhered substantially over edgeupper surfaces (115) of the edge portions (112); and wherein the shieldmay be flexed and pressed to configure and permanently attach the tuftedupper surface (47) to an object (1) to be shielded and the edge portions(112) may be pressed to permanently attach the edge upper surfaces (115)of the edge portions (112) to the object (1) to be shielded so as toself-seal the edge portions (112) to the object (1).
 22. The method ofclaim 21, wherein to the tufted lower surface (48) of the batt (40) aflexible adhesive (50) is applied and adhered substantially over thatsurface such that tufts (46) on the tufted lower surface (48) aresecured to that surface and the flexible, protective foil (50) ispermanently adhered by the adhesive (50) to the tufted lower surface(48) of the batt (40).
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the adhesive(50) on the tufted upper surface (47) and the adhesive (114) on the edgeupper surfaces (115) are a pressure-sensitive adhesive and a flexible,strippable foil (52) is releasably adhered by the pressure-sensitiveadhesive (50, 114) to the tufted upper surface (47) of the batt (40) andto the edge upper surfaces (115) such that by removal of the strippablefoil (52) the pressure-sensitive adhesive (50, 114) on the tufted uppersurface (47) and the edge upper surfaces (115) is exposed.
 24. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes an insulating layer( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed between opposite bindinglayers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), the needled batt (40) has athickness of between about 0.1 and 3 inches, the weight ratio ofinsulating layer (43) to each binding layer (41, 42) is about 0.5 to12.0:1, and the weight of each binding layer (41, 42) is substantiallythe same.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includesan insulating layer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed betweenopposite binding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), and theinsulating fibers (44) are inorganic fibers.
 26. The method of claim 25,wherein the insulating fibers are glass fibers.
 27. The method of claim21, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes an insulating layer ( 43 ) ofinsulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed between opposite binding layers ( 41,42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), and the binding fibers (45) are organicfibers.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the organic fibers arepolyester fibers, nylon fibers, olefin fibers and cellulose acetatefibers.
 29. The method of claim 21, wherein the needled binding fibershave a needling density of between about 500 and 10,000 needle punchesper square inch of the batt (40) and there are between about 500 and10,000 tufts per square inch of the batt (40) on the tufted uppersurface (47) and the tufted lower surface (48).
 30. The method of claim29, wherein there are between about 700 and 5,000 tufts per square inchon the tufted upper surface (47) and the tufted lower surface (48). 31.The method of claim 22, wherein the adhesive is a pressure-sensitiveadhesive containing an acrylate.
 32. The method of claim 31, wherein theacrylate is selected from the group consisting of methacrylate andethyacrylate.
 33. The method of claim 21, wherein the protective foilhas a thickness of between about 2 mils and 100 mils.
 34. The method ofclaim 33, wherein the thickness is between about 10 mils and 50 mils.35. The method of claim 21, wherein the protective foil is a metal foilor a plastic foil.
 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the protectivefoil is an aluminum foil or a polyester foil.
 37. The method of claim 2223, wherein the strippable foil has a thickness of between about 1 miland 50 mils.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the strippable foil hasa release coating on a side thereof which contacts thepressure-sensitive adhesive.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein thestrippable foil is a metal foil, plastic foil or paper foil.
 40. Themethod of claim 39, wherein the strippable foil is a paper foil.
 41. Amethod of applying the shield of claim 1 to an object to be thermallyand acoustically protected, comprising: (1) exposing the adhesive (50,114) on the tufted upper surface (47) and on the edge upper surfaces(115); and (2) pressing the batt (40) at the protective foil (51) toconfigure the shield to contours (90) of the object (91) to be shieldedand causing the adhesive (50) on the tufted upper surface (47) topermanently adhere to the contours (90), and pressing the edge portions(112) against the object (91) to permanently seal the edge portions(112) to the object (91).
 42. The method of claim 41, wherein aflexible, strippable foil (52) is releasably adhered by the adhesive(50, 114) to the tufted upper surface (47) of the batt (40) and to theedge upper surfaces (115) such that by removal of the strippable foil(52) the adhesive (50, 114) on the tufted upper surface (47) and edgeupper surfaces (115) is exposed.
 43. The method of claim 41, wherein thepressing at the protective foil (51) and the edge portions (112) is amanual pressing.
 44. The method of claim 41, wherein, prior to step (1),the shield is subjected to a preforming step to conform the shield togeneral contours of the object.
 45. A flexible, adhesively attachable,thermal and acoustical insulating shield, comprising:(1) a needled,flexible, fibrous batt ( 40 ) of fibers ( 44, 45 ), some of the fibers (45 ) located at a bottom portion of the batt ( 40 ) and a top portion ofthe batt ( 40 ) being needledly disposed through the batt ( 40 ) toprovide tufts ( 46 ) of fibers ( 45 ) protruding from the fibrous batt (40 ) so as to form a tufted upper surface ( 47 ) and a tufted lowersurface ( 48 ) of the batt ( 40 ); (2) a flexible adhesive ( 50 ),disposed and adhered substantially over the tufted upper surface ( 47 )such that the tufts ( 46 ) on the upper surface ( 47, 48 ) are securedto that surface by the adhesive ( 50 ); and (3) a flexible, protectivefoil ( 51 ) permanently adhered to the lower surface ( 48 ) of the batt;and wherein the shield may be flexed and pressed to configure andpermanently attach the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) to an object ( 1 ) tobe shielded.
 46. The shield of claim 45, wherein the tufted lowersurface ( 48 ) of the batt ( 40 ) has disposed and adhered substantiallythereover a flexible adhesive ( 50 ) such that tufts ( 46 ) on thetufted lower surface ( 48 ) are secured to that surface and theflexible, protective foil ( 51 ) is permanently adhered by the adhesive( 50 ) to the tufted lower surface ( 48 ) of the batt ( 40 ).
 47. Theshield of claim 46, wherein the adhesive ( 50 ) on the tufted uppersurface ( 47 ) is a pressure-sensitive adhesive and a flexible,strippable foil ( 52 ) is releasably adhered by the pressure-sensitiveadhesive ( 50 ) to the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) of the batt ( 40 )such that by removal of the strippable foil ( 52 ) thepressure-sensitive adhesive ( 50, 114 ) on the tufted upper surface ( 47) is exposed.
 48. The shield of claim 45, wherein the batt ( 40 )includes an insulating layer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposedbetween opposite binding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), thebatt ( 40 ) has a thickness of between about 0.1 and 3 inches, theweight ratio of insulating layer ( 43 ) to each binding layer ( 41, 42 )is about 0.5 to 12.0:1, and the weight of each binding layer ( 41, 42 )is substantially the same.
 49. The shield of claim 45, wherein the batt( 40 ) includes an insulating layer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 )disposed between opposite binding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers (45 ), and the insulating fibers ( 44 ) are inorganic fibers.
 50. Theshield of claim 49, wherein the insulating fibers are glass fibers. 51.The shield of claim 45, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes an insulatinglayer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed between oppositebinding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), and the bindingfibers ( 45 ) are organic fibers.
 52. The shield of claim 51, whereinthe organic fibers are polyester fibers, nylon fibers, olefin fibers andcellulose acetate fibers.
 53. The shield of claim 46, wherein theneedledly disposed fibers have a needling density of between about 500and 10,000 needle punches per square inch of the batt ( 40 ) and thereare between about 500 and 10,000 tufts per square inch of the batt ( 40) on the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) and the tufted lower surface ( 48).
 54. The shield of claim 53, wherein there are between about 700 and5,000 tufts per square inch on the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) and thetufted lower surface ( 48 ).
 55. The shield of claim 45, wherein theadhesive ( 50, 114 ) is a pressure-sensitive adhesive containing anacrylate.
 56. The shield of claim 55, wherein the acrylate is selectedfrom the group consisting of methacrylate and ethyacrylate.
 57. Theshield of claim 45, wherein the protective foil has a thickness ofbetween about 2 mils and 100 mils.
 58. The shield of claim 57, whereinthe thickness is between about 10 mils and 50 mils.
 59. The shield ofclaim 46, wherein the protective foil is a metal foil or a plastic foil.60. The shield of claim 59, wherein the protective foil is an aluminumfoil or a polyester foil.
 61. The shield of claim 47, wherein thestrippable foil has a thickness of between about 1 mil and 50 mils. 62.The shield of claim 61, wherein the strippable foil has a releasecoating on a side thereof which contacts the pressure-sensitiveadhesive.
 63. The shield of claim 62, wherein the strippable foil is ametal foil, plastic foil or paper foil.
 64. The shield of claim 63,wherein the strippable foil is a paper foil.
 65. A method for producinga flexible, adhesively attachable, thermal and acoustical insulatingshield, comprising:(1) forming a flexible, fibrous batt ( 40 ) of fibers( 44, 45 ); (2) needling the batt ( 40 ) such that some of the fibers (45 ) located at a bottom portion of the batt ( 40 ) and a top portion ofthe batt ( 40 ) are needled through the batt ( 40 ) to provide tufts (46 ) of fibers ( 45 ) protruding from the fibrous batt ( 40 ) so as toform a tufted upper surface ( 47 ) and a tufted lower surface ( 48 ) ofthe batt ( 40 ); (3) applying and adhering a flexible, adhesive ( 50 )over substantially the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) of the batt ( 40 )such that the tufts ( 46 ) on the tufted upper ( 41 ) are secured tothat surface ( 47 ) by the adhesive ( 50 ); and (4) applying a flexible,protective foil ( 51 ) to the tufted lower surface ( 48 ) of the batt (40 ); and wherein the shield may be flexed and pressed to configure andpermanently attach the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) to an object ( 1 ) tobe shielded.
 66. The method of claim 65, wherein to the tufted lowersurface ( 48 ) of the batt ( 40 ) a flexible adhesive ( 50 ) is appliedand adhered substantially over that surface such that tufts ( 46 ) onthe tufted lower surface ( 48 ) are secured to that surface and theflexible, protective foil ( 50 ) is permanently adhered by the adhesive( 50 ) to the tufted lower surface ( 48 ) of the batt ( 40 ).
 67. Themethod of claim 66, wherein the adhesive ( 50 ) on the tufted uppersurface ( 47 ) is a pressure-sensitive adhesive and a flexible,strippable foil ( 52 ) is releasably adhered by the pressure-sensitiveadhesive ( 50 ) to the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) of the batt ( 40 )such that by removal of the strippable foil ( 52 ) thepressure-sensitive adhesive ( 50 ) on the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) isexposed.
 68. The method of claim 65, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes aninsulating layer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed betweenopposite binding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), the needledbatt ( 40 ) has a thickness of between about 0.1 and 3 inches, theweight ratio of insulating layer ( 43 ) to each binding layer ( 41, 42 )is about 0.5 to 12.0:1, and the weight of each binding layer ( 41, 42 )is substantially the same.
 69. The method of claim 65, wherein the batt( 40 ) includes an insulating layer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 )disposed between opposite binding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers (45 ), and the insulating fibers ( 44 ) are inorganic fibers.
 70. Themethod of claim 69, wherein the insulating fibers are glass fibers. 71.The method of claim 65, wherein the batt ( 40 ) includes an insulatinglayer ( 43 ) of insulating fibers ( 44 ) disposed between oppositebinding layers ( 41, 42 ) of binding fibers ( 45 ), and the bindingfibers ( 45 ) are organic fibers.
 72. The method of claim 71, whereinthe organic fibers are polyester fibers, nylon fibers, olefin fibers andcellulose acetate fibers.
 73. The method of claim 65, wherein theneedled fibers have a needling density of between about 500 and 10,000needle punches per square inch of the batt ( 40 ) and there are betweenabout 500 and 10,000 tufts per square inch of the batt ( 40 ) on thetufted upper surface ( 47 ) and the tufted lower surface ( 48 ).
 74. Themethod of claim 73, wherein there are between about 700 and 5,000 tuftsper square inch on the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) and the tufted lowersurface ( 48 ).
 75. The method of claim 66, wherein the adhesive is apressure-sensitive adhesive containing an acrylate.
 76. The method ofclaim 75, wherein the acrylate is selected from the group consisting ofmethacrylate and ethyacrylate.
 77. The method of claim 65, wherein theprotective foil has a thickness of between about 2 mils and 100 mils.78. The method of claim 77, wherein the thickness is between about 10mils and 50 mils.
 79. The method of claim 65, wherein the protectivefoil is a metal foil or a plastic foil.
 80. The method of claim 79,wherein the protective foil is an aluminum foil or a polyester foil. 81.The method of claim 67, wherein the strippable foil has a thickness ofbetween about 1 mil and 50 mils.
 82. The method of claim 81, wherein thestrippable foil has a release coating on a side thereof which contactsthe pressure-sensitive adhesive.
 83. The method of claim 82, wherein thestrippable foil is a metal foil, plastic foil or paper foil.
 84. Themethod of claim 83, wherein the strippable foil is a paper foil.
 85. Amethod of applying the shield of claim 45 to an object to be thermallyand acoustically protected, comprising:(1) exposing the adhesive ( 50 )on the tufted upper surface ( 47 ); and (2) pressing the batt ( 40 ) atthe protective foil ( 51 ) to configure the shield to contours ( 90 ) ofthe object ( 91 ) to be shielded and causing the adhesive ( 50 ) on thetufted upper surface ( 47 ) to permanently adhere to the contours ( 90).
 86. The method of claim 85, wherein a flexible, strippable foil ( 52) is releasably adhered by the adhesive ( 50 ) to the tufted uppersurface ( 47 ) of the batt ( 40 ) such that by removal of the strippablefoil ( 52 ) the adhesive ( 50 ) on the tufted upper surface ( 47 ) isexposed.
 87. The method of claim 85, wherein the pressing at theprotective foil ( 51 ) is a manual pressing.
 88. The method of claim 85,wherein, prior to step ( 1 ), the shield is subjected to a preformingstep to conform the shield to general contours of the object.